COLUMBUS — Ohio State is 5-0 and the fourth-ranked college football team in America.
For so much going right, there are a lot of questions surrounding a team that averages 501 yards and 48 points per game.
While the Buckeyes’ perceived quarterback controversy was put to rest Saturday when Braxton Miller returned to throw four touchdown passes in a 31-24 win over visiting Wisconsin, Ohio State coach Urban Meyer on Monday pondered a handful of questions. Thoughts about the involvement of his team’s leading rusher, conservative play-calling in the second half of Saturday’s game and the problem/luxury of having so many playmakers and only one ball to go around came into question at Meyer’s weekly news conference at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
The Buckeyes will try to put those questions to rest on Saturday when they travel to Evanston, Ill., to face 5-0 Northwestern in a nationally-televised game.
“The best thing about 5-0 is a chance to go 6-0,” Meyer said.
Not to mention a chance to silence critics, ones who thought OSU was too conservative with a 17-point lead against Wisconsin or ones who thought he didn’t use Jordan Hall enough.
Meyer will give the critics that one. Immediately after the game, Meyer said the Buckeyes need to get Hall more involved with the offense. The senior running back carried the ball one time for five yards against the Badgers.
In the first four games, Hall ran 68 times for 422 yards and eight touchdowns.
OSU offensive coordinator Tom Herman on Monday shouldered the responsibility for not getting Hall in the game.
“Jordan Hall has got to be involved,” Meyer said. “(Hall and Hyde) are our top two backs and we are working on (how to divide the workload) now.”
Which brought up an interesting point to Meyer.
Does Ohio State have too many weapons?
The Buckeyes seem to have two ample quarterbacks. Miller and Kenny Guiton have put up sparkling numbers this season, combining for 1,070 yards and 19 touchdowns so far.
There are five legitimate running backs, led by Hall and Hyde, and four receivers with 10 or more catches, including Philly Brown and Devin Smith, each of whom have five touchdown receptions.
Is it difficult to get everyone the touches on offense they deserve?
“No. It’s actually awesome,” Meyer said. “It’s great. It’s difficult on the other one, where you don’t have the puzzle pieces of the checkerboard that you like , and we have several.”
Despite having all those weapons, Ohio State got cautious late in the game against Wisconsin last week. After the Buckeyes took a 31-14 lead with two-plus minutes remaining in the third quarter on a 1-yard touchdown pass from Miller to Brown, the Buckeyes never scored again.
They were Jim Tressel-like close-to-the-vest for the rest of the game.
Meyer said it was because he and the Buckeyes went into “win the game” mode.
“At the end of the day, you’re up three scores against a team that supposedly can’t throw the ball as well as they did,” Meyer said, “And we made a decision that the way we lose that game is turn the ball over, and maybe (going for) style points.”
Meyer wrinkled his nose at pushing the offensive envelope with a 31-14 lead in search of style points.
“We have a responsibility to win the game, we don’t have a responsibility to put up X number of points or X number of yards,” he said. “When you have a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter, the way you approach how you’re going to call the game changes significantly.”